A Trio Of Snakes

Three Snakes roared across the hot Fort Worth, Texas, pavement on a summer day, all purchased from Lone Star Classics and all built in different manners. The result is the same, though—three classic Cobra replicas that reflect the lifestyles of their owners.

Lone Star certainly allows the buyer to build a car completely on his own, but it also encourages the owner-builder to avail himself of Lone Star’s in-house technical expertise, and, beyond that, join the company’s innovative In-House Build program. The In-House Build allows you to complete your car in Lone Star’s facility with all the tools, space, and tech help you need and up to 80 hours of actual Tech-expert building hours (for $2,000 above sales price).

These three cars and their owners each took their own road toward completion.

Roger Cowan, owner of a yellow Lone Star Cobra 427, completed his Snake with the In-House Build program after he had begun the home project himself. He had previously completed Sprint Car builds, but this build got tough for him after he had completed the rolling chassis. As he says, “When I got in over my head, I went to Lone Star’s Dennis Thurman, who had built more than 300 cars, and several other techs, who helped me finish the build. I spent about 100 hours at the Lone Star shop and we finished this dream car together.” This Haslet, Texas, resident quit racing but wanted to go Snake-fast and look good doing it. He has succeeded with his Lone Star chassis and its 94-inch wheelbase. He added a Currie rearend and Alden front shocks, and set a ring-and-pinion ratio of 3.25:1.

Roger pumped up power with a ’67 Ford 460-cid V-8 engine, machined by Second Opinion of Fort Worth. The set-up, along with an Edelbrock 570-cfm carburetor, gets him 475 horses. He topped off the installation with a four-speed top-loader transmission, MSD electronic ignition, and an Edelbrock manifold. Hills Paint and Body did the PPG Chrome Yellow paint job, and D&B Enterprises pinstriped Roger’s beauty in black.

“I just finished it, so I haven’t timed it on the track yet, but you can bet she will see some fast times. I feel like a million bucks driving it, and it looks even hotter in yellow than the Texas sun. I really wouldn’t be behind the wheel of her today, without Lone Star’s help, and Dennis Thurman. They are as much a part of this car as every instrument and every product. It’s my car, but they are a part of it.”

Route number two was taken by Mike McBride, who built a blue ’66 Cobra. He built the car entirely at the Lone Star facility—a complete In-House Build. He built it virtually all by himself, but often asked for and received guidance from Dennis Thurman. “It took about three months and about 170 man-hours, 80 of which were supplied by Thurman,” says Mike. “Without him, I might have spent 300 hours on the build, and I was able to use Lone Star’s tools and cutting devices, tools I didn’t have. When you drop in an engine for the first time, you can really use the help. The car is certainly put together better than if I had done it myself, and without all the frustration and angst one gets when working alone. This was a fun project—thanks to them.”

It was a lifelong dream of Mike’s to own a car like this, as he had previously built, owned, and raced three ’69 Camaros. He had worked on a NASCAR racer when he was younger, but he yearned for a Snake.

His Serpent utilizes a Ford 9-inch rearend with 3.70:1 gears specifically designed for the Cobra. It has Currie custom axles, four-link coilover shocks, adjustable Gabriel front and rear shocks, and 11-inch disc brakes that Mike harvested from a ’96 Ford Explorer. The Cobra employs custom tubular uneven suspension, Mustang II spindles, a Tilton master cylinder, and a Tilton NASCAR pedal assembly. Mike added an ididit 2000 steering column, 15x7-inch Centerforce wheels in front and 15x10-inch Centerforces behind, covered with Goodyear GTII Eagle P235/70R15s in front and P275/70R15s in rear. Aspiration comes from an Edelbrock manifold, a Holley Street Avenger 570-cfm carburetor, and a K&N air cleaner.

Ceramic-coated exhaust allows heat management, as does a 600hp Griffin radiator, and a Tremec 3550 five-speed transmission finishes off the complement to his engine.

Power comes from a ’70 Ford 351 Windsor V-8 that Mike estimates at 300 hp, and he added his own touch by painting the engine PPG Ford Blue. The interior includes a Painless wiring harness, Grant GT steering wheel, FinishLine rearview mirror, VDO gauges, and black cut-pile carpeting to complement black vinyl seats.

The PPG Ford Blue paint job, which is accented by white stripes, was completed by Santa Fe Body Shop. When the 2,300-pound Snake roars down the street or the track—he has hit 115 mph and blazed the quarter-mile in 12.05 e.t.—the smile across Mike’s face is as bright as the solar disk was on the day we photographed his car.

Ken Hancock took course number three—a self-build he did with his sons, Daniel and Trevor. Hancock’s silver Cobra with a purple soft top was built at his home. “This was a family project, one that helped us all bond,” says Ken. “While we did the work off-premises, I got time and support from the Lone Star techs whenever I called with questions—which was often. That made this fun, as well as bonding.”

Ken built the car primarily to do a family project. “The car was our focus but not our goal,” Ken tells us. “The goal was family.”

The family put the LS ’66 Cobra shell on a factory chassis with a Ford 9-inch rear from Currie. The ring-and-pinion ratio is set at 3.70:1. They added Gabriel coilovers, ’96 Ford Explorer rear brakes, and unequal-length tubular suspension. The car uses machined Mustang II spindles, 11-inch Ford Granada calipers, and a Mallory distributor. The tranny is a Tremec 3550 five-speed, and the driveshaft is from Fort Worth Gear and Axles. The Cobra also uses ceramic-coated exhaust and a 600hp Griffin radiator for heat management. Ken outfitted his Snake with a ’70 351 Windsor V-8 engine that puts out 385 hp at 5,000 rpm. The engine setup is enhanced by a Holley Street Avenger 570-cfm carburetor and an Edelbrock manifold.

The PPG Silver paint and clearcoat was applied by Cook’s Paint and Body, and VDO gauges, a FinishLine rear-view mirror, and a Grant GT steering wheel play well off the maroon leather upholstery and maroon cut-pile carpet. Ken has jetted the 2,300-pound Hancock & Sons’ Cobra down the quarter-mile in 11.80 seconds and has reached a top speed of 119 mph, but it will be a while before his project helpers, his sons, get to drive this family project that fast.

Three Cobras, three different approaches, three different paint jobs and looks. But one word can be used to describe each of the three… awesome!